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Chelmsford TM backs $3.3M school capital plan

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/28/2017 08:50:31 AM EDT

CHELMSFORD -- Capital plan projects to remove old, damaged accordion walls and replace broken lecture hall desks at Chelmsford High School dominated the conversation in the second night of Spring Town Meeting Thursday.

Town Meeting ultimately approved the $3.3 million capital plan as presented, 128-12, following a length discussion of whether these items took priority over code and handicap-accessibility deficiencies at the school buildings.

Replacing the accordion walls with permanent walls is estimated to cost $65,000. The high school lecture hall renovation is estimated to cost $111,041.

Superintendent of Schools Jay Lang said the 16 accordion walls and the lecture hall, all original to the 1970s-built school, are in "deplorable shape." The walls have holes and are falling apart, and the lecture hall is rarely used because much of the seating is inoperable, he said.

"Quite honestly, it's embarrassing," Lang said, noting the items have been pushed off for many years.

Selectman Laura Merrill, a Precinct 2 representative, was the sole selectman to vote against recommending approval of the capital plan. She proposed an unsuccessful amendment to hold off on the high school items until the town receives a response from the Massachusetts School Building Authority on its application for funding on a high school project.

Merrill said she felt the town should address fire code issues and bring school buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act before looking to replace items like accordion walls.

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Some reps agreed with her, but many felt fixing the proposed items would quickly contribute to a better learning environment for students for a small amount of money.

"The accordion walls were terrible in the 80s when I was there, but they've only gone downhill, and being able to hear through them really does interrupt the class and provide a lot of distraction for the kids," said Precinct 8 rep Will Wagner.

Carol Kelly-Suleski, a Precinct 5 rep and Chelmsford teacher, agreed.

"They're horrible," she said. "The sound that comes between the classrooms, it's just ridiculous. So those walls would be a good investment."

Some reps also expressed concerns about a lack of left-handed desks in the lecture hall. Precinct 5 rep Evelyn Thoren asked that some be included in the renovation.

The capital plan includes a number of other items, such as wireless access upgrades, new voting tabulators and poll pads, new Senior Center dining room chairs, public safety communications upgrades with the high school, two new Fire Department vehicles, three new public works vehicles, some sidewalk construction and road maintenance, new roofs for the East Fire Station and MacKay Library, school asbestos removal and water fountain replacements and other technology and facility upgrades at the schools.

Of the $3.3 million total, $309,476 is covered by bond premiums, and $3 million will be borrowed.

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